EADS Merger and IPO Opens
The Door for Airbus Investors

For investors befuddled by European aerospace-industry consolidation, one word helps cut through the confusion of deals and acronyms: Airbus.

European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co., which is now being formed by the merger of companies from three countries and which plans an initial public offering in June, indeed covers all the fields its name indicates. But while missiles, rockets and satellites are important to EADS, no...